Milliken & Company Celebrates 2023 Milliken Honors Recipients

Spartanburg, S.C. — Diversified global manufacturer Milliken & Company recognized 156 associates during the seventh annual Milliken Honors awards on January 9. Celebrating exceptional associates and teams who rose to the challenge and made an impact in 2023, the Milliken Honors is a collection of 34 annual awards representing Milliken’s five core values — integrity, excellence, innovation, sustainability and people. The 2023 Milliken Honors class highlights associates from across the company, illustrating the collective efforts of Milliken’s global team to live out these values each day.

“In 2024, we’ll accelerate growth on Milliken innovations that have positive solutions for industries and communities we serve,” states Halsey Cook, president and CEO of Milliken & Company. “Our group of 2023 Milliken Honors recipients shows that we have the right team in place to achieve our ambitious goals and further our impact. I congratulate all our winners, and I look forward to seeing what the curious minds of Team Milliken will create next.”

The Milliken Honors touches on all areas of the company, including its four businesses and corporate enabler functions. From commending excellence to shining a light on unsung heroes, the Milliken Honors is a diverse group that embodies the Milliken team as a whole.  

Milliken is pleased to present the 2023 Milliken Honors associate and team winners:

Integrity Awards

The Do The Right Thing Award is presented to the associate or team of associates embodying the value of integrity and making a positive impact on Milliken through their ability to do what is right. 

Elaine Hare-Sturm

The Resiliency Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who overcame a challenge and driven something forward to succeed despite adversity.

EMEAI Floor Covering Team

The Values Role Model Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who modeled Milliken's values: integrity, excellence, innovation, sustainability and people.

Alicia Stack

Excellence Awards

The Manufacturing Excellence Award is presented to the team or plant with outstanding operational performance, production ingenuity, quality and process excellence.

Chemical: Ironwood Plant

Floor Covering: MTZ (Zhangjiagang) Plant

Healthcare: Salisbury Warehouse team

Textile: Gillespie Plant

The Marketing Excellence Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who has achieved greater financial performance and customer satisfaction through the application of marketing best practices while embodying Milliken values.

Chemical Customer Segmentation team

The MPS Results Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who has worked to go above and beyond to deploy and leverage Milliken Performance System (MPS) principles and methodologies to achieve measurable performance improvements and operational excellence in their organization.

MTZ (Zhangjiagang) Plant

The Sales Excellence Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who has achieved greater financial performance through the application of sales best practices while embodying Milliken values.

Floor Covering: Team France

The Support Excellence Award is presented to the associate or team of associates in a support function who has demonstrated excellence in operational performance, advancing strategy and business results.

Greg Facchine

The TEAM Excellence Award is presented to a team of manufacturing associates or a Milliken plant that has made outstanding progress to adopt and implement the TEAM organizational health initiative.

Beech Hill Plant

Innovation Awards

The Breakthrough Innovation Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who demonstrated the innovation of a product, service or process that yielded significant business results.

Encapsys Team

The Customer Centricity Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who engaged a customer to build insights and identify a new product or service that helped the customer achieve their objectives and yield a business result.

Encapsys Team

The Growth Catalyst Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who decisively activates and executes growth-oriented strategies more quickly and effectively than competitors.

Enterprise Innovation team

Sustainability Awards

The People Goals Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who contribute to Milliken’s 2025 People Goals by demonstrating a commitment to care for one another and the surrounding communities.

Colene Houston

The Planet Goals Award is presented to the associate or team who contributes to Milliken’s 2025 Planet Goals by positively impacting the company’s efforts to reduce its global footprint.

Paige Bensen

The Product Goals Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who contribute to Milliken’s 2025 Product Goals by positively impacting product sustainability.

Simply Sustainable RESET Flooring in Asia

The Value Creation Award is presented to the business unit that met financial goals and targets for the year.

One-Year: Airbag team with Milliken’s Textile Business

One-Year: Encapsys team with Milliken’s Chemical Business

One-Year: Commercial – EMEIA team with Milliken’s Floor Covering Business

People Awards

The Leadership Award is presented to the associate or team of associates who consistently demonstrates leadership expectations and is viewed by others as a role model.

Curtis Winslow

The Production Hero Award is presented to the production associate who goes above and beyond in their role to support operational performance and models Milliken's values as a production team member.   

Chemical: Roy Gander

Floor Covering: Lamond Gilliam

Healthcare: Juan Pena

Textile: Cushman Slashing team (Bobby Heatherly, Chad Kay, Chuck Knight and Travis Todd)

The Safety Champion Award is presented annually to the Milliken site, individual associate or team of associates who best represents the Milliken safety culture through their actions and results.

Gent Textile Plant

The Roger Milliken Award is presented to the associate who has created lasting, changing and measurable differences within the company and has built a legacy of their own within the organization by creating lasting and measurable differences that have contributed to business success while being a role model of Milliken values as part of their performance.

DH Lee

About Milliken  

Milliken & Company is a global manufacturing leader whose focus on materials science delivers tomorrow’s breakthroughs today. From industry-leading molecules to sustainable innovations, Milliken creates products that enhance people’s lives and deliver solutions for its customers and communities. Drawing on thousands of patents and a portfolio with applications across the textile, specialty chemical, flooring and healthcare businesses, the company harnesses a shared sense of integrity and excellence to positively impact the world for generations. Discover more about Milliken’s curious minds and inspired solutions at milliken.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.